Repair Costs

[Brad Z.]

I wanted to see how my contractors costs compare to others. I have a contractor that has keys to most units and is just a phone call to fix pretty much anything, very dependable. I want to see how his costs compare to others.. Here are few things I have had him do recently.

[b] A 1/2 water line cracked in a dead space above a closet, accessible through a drop ceiling. He cut it out, replaced and repaired. His total time was probably 2 hours becuase of the tough location. What would you consider reasonable?

Drain Lines: Old cast iron stack finally started leaking in a finished wall. He probably spent 1 hr trying to isolate issue, cut out 2 ft x 2 ft area, repaired the stack, redrywalled, finished and painted. He probably had 6-7 hours total spread across 3 visits. Thoughts on reasonable bill?

Replace light fixtures: I had him replace 7 light fixtures with home depot builders grade domes. he picked them up form hardware store and installed. He was probably there 3 hours or so included time to fix a faucet stem. Thoughts on a reasonable bill?

[Jeffrey K.]

Mike, when you work in this business you figure out about what something should cost and if one of the guys you are comfortable comes close it is not worth your time to sit around and get more bids. It is also not good to have a reputation in the construction community of getting tons of bids to try to work guys against eachother. People talk at the pro desk.

As for the OP.

First repair: $90
Materials:
2 Sharkbite coupling @$10
1 stick 1/2" copper pipe @$10
1 New ceiling tile @ $10
Labor: $60

Second repair: $234
Materials:
1 1/2" Sheet Nextgen Drywall @ $5
1 Bag 20 minute mud @ $6
1 Stick 3" DVW PVC @ $8
2 3" Fernco Clamps @15
Labor: $200

Third Job: $228
Materials:
7 Two Bulb Dome Lights (BN from CE Twin PK) @ $70
14 60W CFL EQ Bulbs @ $15
Moen Stem @ $23
Labor: $120

The key to getting this done for the right price is to not use the same guy from every part of the job. There are guys who are better and faster at both some parts. I have to cordinate this and dont factor in my time for doing this. I also run parts for the guys so they spend the time working while I spend the time waiting at the pro desk for an hour. If you like this guy and he shows up on time I dont think it is a huge deal that you pay a little more. It is also nice to make one call and it is done. If he does a good job then I would keep him.